Mzala Nxumalo, Leftist Thought and Contemporary South Africa

1. Auflage 2024
ISBN: 978-1-032-86108-1
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 407 Seiten, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 775 g

Written as a tribute to the revolutionary intellectual and leader Mzala Nxumalo, this book discusses the significance of his work in the context of contemporary South African left politics. It explores the history and struggle of the apartheid era that preceded the advent of democracy to analyze a crucial aspect of the national question – that is, the quest for the establishment of a united South Africa to overcome racist and sexist policies that create and nurture divisions among black people.

The subjects in this book deal with a wide range of topics, including the new social, economic and political challenges facing democratic South Africa; the need to reexamine the critique of capitalism in the 21st century; the relationship between race, class and community struggles; and the ecological challenges under capitalism.

Print edition not for sale in Sub Saharan Africa

Zielgruppe

General and Postgraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Balfour, Robert J.

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Afrikanische Geschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Volkskunde Historische & Regionale Volkskunde

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acronyms and abbreviations

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Introduction: Mzala Nxumalo’s ideas in post-apartheid South Africa

PART 1: MZALA AND THE NATIONAL QUESTION

1. Radical Left Thought Revival: Mzala’s Views and Their Applicability in Contemporary South Africa

2. The National Question and Exile: Remembering Mzala in London

3. Socialism is the Future: Comrade Mzala’s Thoughts on the National Question

4. The First and Second Transitions and the National Question in South Africa

5. The EFF’s Perspective on ‘What is the Future of the Left in South Africa in a Global Context?’

6. The Dilemma of the Post-1994 Democratic Breakthrough: A Broad Survey of Community Struggles in South Africa

PART 2: COMMUNITY, STATE AND GLOBE: ISSUES, STRUGGLES AND THE POLITICS OF WORK

7. The Challenges of Economic and Social Development in South Africa: Left Perspectives

8. Global Economic Imperialism and the Politics of (Under) Development: Street Traders, Domestic Workers and Sex Workers

9. Social and Economic Challenges from a Left Perspective

10. After Revisionist Marxism: Reanimating the Critique of Capitalism in South Africa

11. Emerging Powers and the Polycentric World

12. Ecocide or Socialism: Ecological Challenges and Neoliberal Capitalist Constrains on Radical Transformation

Conclusion: The Future of Leftist Thought in a New Century

About the Contributors

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Robert J. Balfour is Deputy Vice Chancellor (Teaching and Learning) at North-West University, South Africa. He is a National Research Foundation-rated academic and has published frequently on language learning and literacy, rural education and postcolonial literature.